Forget Her
by Zabria Rose
Summary: "I'm done. I've been done for years. I don't care that he's hurt. I don't care that she's crying. I don't care that she's still kidnapped. It's not my problem anymore." (K plus for mentions of death I guess?)


**Forget Her**

Another day.

That's what it was, right?

Wrong.

It was the day I gave up on her.

"Mario! Mario, the princess is in trouble again!"

I groaned. Toad. Again. I was tired of this. It was the same thing, over and over again. It never changed. Bowser took Peach, I did a bunch of crazy stunts to get to his new castle, saved her, then three months later it was the same thing.

"What?!" Luigi said next to me. "We have to save her! Come on, Bro!"

"No," I said coldly. "I'm sick of this. You go save her this time. I'm done."

The screech Toad gave turned my blood to ice. "M-m-m-Mario!"

"I'm done being a hero!" I told him. "I don't want to just go through the motions! I want to have a new life. Something new to do. I'm not a hero anymore."

"But, Bro..."

"Save it!" I told Luigi. "I'm leaving!"

I walked out the front door and slammed it shut. Peach could save her own pathetic hide and hire better guards than just pushover toadstools. A lot of people believed I loved that stupid Princess, so that's why I saved her. That's not the case. I just didn't know anything different. I want to be like the Green and Red Bridge guards in the Yold Desert, guarding something for a new hero. Or free to study, like Merlon, or just be normal. I didn't want to be the hero all the time.

I didn't need this anymore. I was a free man.

So what exactly was I planning on doing with my life?

xXxXx

I screamed again. It wasn't going to do much, but it was worth a shot. Mario would be here to save me in a few days. I could wait it out.

"Princess Peach," Bowser called out to me. "Are you still there?"

I yelled at him in my furious response. This was a game. This wasn't real. I wasn't going to be here forever.

"Don't be like that, Peach," he snarled. "If you're pleasant and cooperative... I can change how your cell looks. It can be a suite of comfort, not a hard and dirty concrete cell."

"Never!" I scoffed. The same offer, every time. "I refuse to cooperate with the likes of you!"

And like always, Bowser breathed a large spout of fire in front of my cell. Then he was gone, and I was left there. My only company was Kamek or Kammy, who brought me food twice a day.

Days passed. I lost count after a while. Mario didn't come. Did something happen? Did Toad not make it to Mario's?

No, he always did. Mario must be on his way. Maybe its more of a challenge than normal. More places to go, monsters to defeat.

I could be patient for a little while longer.

But that "little while longer" turned into something like five years.

xXxXx

"Hey, don't I know you from somewhere?"

I got that all the time. Not as much as when I first quit the hero business, but it was still there.

"Nope. I'm Mario. Nice to meet you."

"Mario... Mario..."

"That's my name. Don't wear it out."

The guy's eyes brightened. "You're that hero, ain't you? Why haven't you saved Peach yet? Is she still alive?"

"Heck if I know," I replied, polishing my hammer. "I quit the hero business years ago."

"But... what about the Princess?"

"It's not my job anymore. I've given it up. I hear that Luigi's made a name for himself now, saving all sorts of people in my stead?"

"Yeah, Luigi's got it good, but what about you? Why did you quit?"

"It was starting to feel almost... routine. It was the same thing, every time, and I was sick of it. So I quit."

"But... you can't do that..."

"Sure I can. And I did. It's been five years, and I haven't once felt the urge to go kill some innocent, probably brainwashed Goomba in order to save that incompetent Princess. Hasn't the Mushroom Kingdom been better off without her? All she did was have useless parties all the time, and they generally got her captured."

"When did you become so cold-hearted, Mario?" the man asked me, and I sighed. "When did you stop caring?"

"I stopped caring when I realized that it was never my fault she was taken. It was always her own stupidity that caused her to get kidnapped time and time again. She stopped caring if she got kidnapped, so I stopped caring."

I turned to my forge, and looking at my handiwork of the past five years. Being a blacksmith was so much more peaceful than killing idiot creatures that didn't know better. And I welcomed that peace.

My inner monologue was interrupted with the same stupid Toad that had always delivered the message of Peach's disappearance.

"Mr. Mario?" he said, rummaging through a bag. "I have a letter for you."

"Thanks," I said, taking the light pink envelope from his hand. The envelope was familiar, but the colors were faded and the sticker that held it closed was grimy and barely sticky anymore. "This looks like..."

It was from Peach.

xXxXx

"Do you want something, Princess? Just name it and it's yours."

"Well, can I have things to write letters with?" I usually refused his offers, but I couldn't play that game forever. I needed to get in contact with the outside world again. My kingdom was going to fall apart without me. If it hadn't already.

"Kamek!" Bowser turned to the old Koopa. "You heard the Princess."

"Yessir," Kamek said, and rushed off.

A minute later, he came back with pink envelopes and paper that looked like they were taken from the castle. I decided against saying anything about it and took the supplies.

"Thank you," I said.

"I'll be off now, Princess. Call if you need anything else."

I waited until he closed the door, and then I began to write.

_"Dear Mario,_

_Bowser let me have things to write letters with. Where are you? Why haven't you come to rescue me yet? It's been terrible for these past five days. Please come save me, Mario, I need your help. Please come save me!_

_Sincerely, Peach"_

_xXxXx_

"This letter is dated five years ago," I said, surprised. "Why did it take so long to get delivered?"

"I got it in the post this morning," Toad replied. "So I delivered it. My job is done, so I'll be off."

"Thanks, Toad," I sighed. I read the short letter again. That was right after I'd decided to be a blacksmith instead of a hero. I didn't miss the business, so why did this tug at my heartstrings? I didn't miss the Princess. I didn't miss any of it. Why was this so hard for me to ignore?

"Mario!" Parakarry came flying to me at a high speed. "I have a letter for you!"

"I just got one-"

"It's from Peach! I went to Bowser's castle to get it, so you'd get it faster this time. Kamek is too slow for anything."

I read the letter. It said a lot of the same things as the original letter I got, but this one was more urgent.

_"Mario, please. I fear that something bad will happen if you don't come soon. I hear that you quit the hero business, and Luigi has taken your place. Mario, you know as well as I do that Luigi can't take on Bowser alone and I'm too weak to help him. You have to come save me. Please, I'm begging you!"_

There was a line, but it was as if she had been startled.

_"Luigi just got here. He's badly injured, Mario! We're both trapped and now Luigi is probably going to die. Please, please come save us!"_

My eyes widened. If Luigi died, it would be my fault. All because of selfish reasons.

But I still didn't want to go fight. I didn't want to be a hero anymore. Luigi had stopped talking to me after I left, anyway. As far as I knew... Luigi hated me.

I crumpled up the letter and threw it far as it would go inside my shop. I wasn't going to do it. No. I wasn't going to be the hero.

"Mario?"

"No."

"Mario, what's going on?"

"Luigi is trapped and injured too."

"Are you going to do anything about it? Are you finally-"

"No." I said coldly. "I'm not."

"Mario-!"

"I'm done. I've been done for years. I don't care that he's hurt. I don't care that she's crying. I don't care that she's still kidnapped. It's not my problem anymore."

_**Forget her.**_

.:FIN:.

**Not-So-Short Author's Note: Hi, guys... How you been? No, I'm not around much anymore. I feel kind of bad, but I've been so busy and haven't had time to work on anything outside of classwork writing. (AKA, essays.) This is just a thing I found on my computer (it's a little old), but I decided that it was decent enough that I could just give my followers (all like five of you hahaha) a little thing until I had time to write Left to Fate. (it's not actually forgotten just neglected and I'm sorry that I'm such a terrible person.) The good thing about LtF being so delayed is that it'll have better writing than it did before. :D**

**Anyway, thanks for reading! Please leave a review, I'd really appreciate it!~**

**~Zabria Rose~**


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